HANOI, July 2 (Reuters) — Vietnamese rice exporters must halt all talks on new deals as the country’s commitments have hit the 3.8 million-ton temporary limit set by the government to ensure domestic supplies, an industry official said on Friday.

"They must wait for a government decision," Truong Thanh Phong, chairman of the Vietnam Food Association, or Vietfood, told Reuters, referring to exporters in negotiations.

The government imposed the 3.8 million-tonne limit on rice exports for this year even though the Agriculture Ministry said Vietnam, the world’s second-largest rice exporter after Thailand, was able to ship 4 million tons.

The government said it would review the limit in the last quarter of the year.

Vietnamese rice exporters have to register their contracts with Vietfood to secure permission to load grain.

"A inter-ministerial team will be going south soon to investigate the contracts signed and the grain stocks. After that the government will make a decision," Phong said by telephone from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s busiest grain trading centre.

"But the situation is not problematic as Vietnam has shipped just 2.6 million tons in the first half and another 350,000 tons would go this month," he said.

Government figures show 2.66 million tons was exported in the January-June period, a rise of 10.6 percent from a year earlier.

The decision to halt new export deals could make it difficult for the Philippines to meet import needs in a tender scheduled for July 20 in which it is seeking to buy 185,000 tons of 15 percent or 25 percent broken rice.

But traders said given Manila was an important market for Vietnam and state-run export firms which have been given a monopoly on rice sales to Manila could get special government approval to join the tender.